


Walking

by leenahanwoo



Category: One Piece
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluffy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 22:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9038564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leenahanwoo/pseuds/leenahanwoo
Summary: In his search of pure happiness, Aokiji never thought he would be attracted to a single parent, who dedicated his life for his little daughter. Was it only a mere curiosity, or he was the one whom he look for this whole time? A One Piece's Aokiji × Smoker fanfiction, a special gift of my recipient, AriesDanger24, for KilGuin Chatroom's Secret Santa Event





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AriesDanger24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriesDanger24/gifts).



**Title : Walking**

**Genre : Shounen-ai, romance, cheesy fluff**

**Rating : T**

**Length : Oneshot with 3.761 words**

**Author : leenahanwoo**

**Pairing: Aokiji x Smoker**

**Cast : Aokiji Kuzan, Smoker, Tashigi, Perona & Kumashi**

**Warning : SHO-AI Content ! Don’t like don’t read !! OOC-ness is everywhere !!!**

**Disclaimer : All One Piece casts are Eiichiro Oda-sama's. This storyline is mine, the idea is based on the request of my Secret Santa’s recipient**

 

**~~~ Walking ~~~**

 

Aokiji Kuzan never felt he lived his life the fullest. He was at the age of 47 when he resigned from the police force. His supervisor asked why, and he simply answered; he was just tired to deal with the crime, and he wanted to live peacefully after resigning. But the main reason was that he wanted to search the meaning of his existence - he wanted to find pure happiness to spend the rest of his lifetime.

Soon after his sudden resignation, an old friend of his came by his house and begged him - to buy his cafe on the suburb, west area of the city he lived in. He said he desperately needed money for his wife’s surgery; Aokiji didn’t believed him too much, but he thought that was not bad idea. He never ran a cafe before, and this was a good opportunity to give it a try. Moreover, he could prevent any boredom in the middle of his search; and that was how he ended up managing this small cafe, located near a quite well-known public elementary & junior high school.

He was now standing behind the display cooler, which was used to put cakes and other sweets. His hair was deep black and curly, which matched well to his tanned skin. His body seemed extremely tall when he was standing, but he didn’t feel to sit down in the meantime. He stared at the front door, and saw several elementary school students & junior high schoolers were coming in. But he was not going to watch customers ordering their meals and drink to the waiter. He was waiting for certain customer he always considered as his favorite when a voice reached his ears.

“Boss, you’re in a daze again.” The waiter of the cafe spoke. He was a big man with a deep tan skin, big eyes, round face - which made him looked like a cute, big teddy bear. He still looked at his boss curiously, and might wonder why he always looked lazy and abstracted.

Aokiji looked at his employee lazily. “Have you mopped the floor, Kumashi?”

“I have mopped it twice today.” He answered with unusually low voice, ruining the cute appearance of his. “And your favorite customer is coming.”

Aokiji averted his gaze to the front door again. A little girl came in; she was 7 to 8 years old, with short blue haired and glasses. The first moment she came in, she wore a very thick blue long coat and matching blue jacket under the coat, with a white scarf wrapping around her neck and dark pink gloves on her hands. But after she took off her outer outfit and hung it on the coat rack, Aokiji could see that she wore a yellow t-shirt with a floral pattern, blue pants and carried a dark blue backpack.

She then sat on her usual table, number 6, which was the nearest of the front door. The girl ordered Vanilla Latte from Perona, a very cute waitress with spiral braided pink hair and unusual round eyes. She then waited for her parent as usual. It was the common way that the students of the elementary school nearby would come to the cafe and wait for their moms to pick them up. But this girl was slightly different, since it was her father who picked her up every day, and never did her mother.

Aokiji had seen her father several times. He was an interesting man; he had good-looking face with a well-built body. Despite of his appearance, what made he truly interested was he looked like a dedicated worker, but he always spared his time to pick his daughter up after he finished work. He could see the man dedicated his life to his little daughter; took care and love her. Sometimes he wondered why he felt that way; but he guessed it was because he had never saw sincere love from fathers to their children for so long, and the love he saw from the man was extremely fascinating to him.

He also noticed that the little girl seemed to understand the situation her father had, always waited her father patiently in the cafe and sometimes did her homework - helped by Perona, since Perona said the girl was in the same class as her adoptive brother, Zoro. He saw this situation almost every weekday, and the more he observed it, the more his curiosity grew.

He knew that it was absurd that he had been interested in this man and his little daughter - more than a mere curiosity, but he couldn’t leave the fact that he was never be able to cast the man away from his mind. And the worse, Aokiji was not brave enough to talk or get to know more about them, so he sometimes felt stupid to not doing it sooner.

After thinking it deeply, the cafe owner finally decided to talk with the little girl. He wanted to know more about the girl, and her father if possible. But how?

“Perona, give me two slices of Rainbow Cake.”

Perona, who just had delivered Vanilla Latte to the girl frowned. “Boss, are you drunk?” She knew very well Aokiji was not a fan of sweets.

“Just give me some.”

The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. “Weirdo.” She took two slices of Rainbow Cake from the display cooler, put them on B&B plates and gave it to Aokiji after she put a fork on it.

“Thanks.”

He then walked slowly to the girl’s spot, sat on the chair in front of her and put the plate on the table near her text book. The girls looked confused at first; she might have known Aokiji was the owner of the cafe, but this was the first time she had to face him directly, and without specific reason.

“Don’t be scared. I just want to give you this.” He tried to break the ice.

She was still frowning when answering. “I don’t order cakes. Dad may be upset if I eat too much sweets before dinner.”

 _A clever, honest girl,_ Aokiji thought, “Well, you can eat it a little if you want.”

She shook her head, causing her blue hair to sway smoothly. “I need to pay it too. And Dad will know that I ...”

“You don’t have to pay.” Aokiji cut her words. “I give it to you, for free.”

She looked at Aokiji with a suspicious gaze, but he did his best to act normally, so the girl would trust her. The girl then looked at the Rainbow Cake slices on the plate, looked back at Aokiji before she asked in hesitation. “So … this is for me?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s yours.”

A bit shaking from excitement, she took the plates, cut the cakes into small pieces and started eating the cake slices. She smiled widely to taste the sweet taste and soft texture of the cake. Her expression made Aokiji smiled back unconsciously in response.

“Glad you like it.” He said.

The girl nodded. “I like all sweet stuff here, they are the most delicious sweets in town.” She continued eating the cakes.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Aokiji commented. “So … may I know your name, little girl?”

“Tashigi.” She answered. “And I’m in the first year of elementary school.”

“Sweet name. And sweet age too.”

She nodded happily. “Dad said it was the sweetest name given by my mother. So I love my name the most.”

“I see.” The girl finished eating one slice, and she hadn’t touched the second one when he spoke. He slipped his fingers through his black, curly hair in nervousness. It was the chance to talk about her father. “I think it’s your father who always picks you up after he’s back from work.”

“It’s because he is the only one who can pick me up.”

“And your mother?”

It took some time before she answered by shaking her head.

A slight of sorrow was seen on her face, along with increasing heart beat of his.

“Did you parent … get divorced?” He asked again, now with more nervousness.

“Mom passed away few days after I was born. That’s what Dad said.”

The answer was beyond his imagination. Aokiji felt a bit of regretful to ask such a personal question. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to it. Beside, Dad does love me, and always takes care of me, so I don’t feel too lonely.”

“I see. Good to hear your dad is a very caring person.”

She nodded again, and put the plate away. She had decided to not eat the second slices, for she then opened her book and started doing the homework. Aokiji got up to give her space to study, and went back to where he was standing, behind the display cooler.

 

**~~~ Walking ~~~**

 

It was by the time of the cafe to close when Tashigi’s father came in; Perona had gone to the locker room to change her uniform, Kumashi had almost finished washing the last dishes, and Aokiji was cleaning the display cooler after restoring the cakes into the fridge when he entered. He was later than his usual time, and Aokiji could see how the man was panting hard when arrived. _Maybe he had to run along the street,_ he thought.

When he arrived, the little girl was sleeping with her head resting on the table.  She fell asleep right after finishing her homework, and Aokiji covered her with his dark blue trench-coat to protect the sleeping little girl from the cold. It made the man frowned in confusion to see unknown cloth on his little daughter.

“Don’t wake her.” Aokiji said when he saw the man going to touch Tashigi’s shoulder. “She just fell to sleep a while ago, after finishing her homework. Let her sleep a little longer.”

“I see,” The man responded. “She waited for me too long.”

Aokiji stopped his work, and closed the cooler’s door. He walked slowly, getting closer to the man’s spot. “But your daughter seems to understand. She isn’t even sulky or look upset, and waited for you patiently.”

“Yeah, that’s how she is.” He then averted his eyes to the cakes slice on the plate. “Did she order the cake?”

 _Oh shit, Kumashi forget to take it,_ Aokiji silently cursed.

“No, it was me who gave it to her when she did her homework.” Aokiji answered honestly, no use in lying anyway. “She actually rejected my offer at first, saying that you don’t allow her to eat sweets before dinner. But when I said it was for free and it would be okay to eat a little of the cake, she then took them.”

“I think I only said to not eat too much sweets before dinner, but it’s good to hear she still remember what I ask her for.” He smiled a bit. “Can I smoke here? It’s very cold outside, and I need to warm up my body before I take my daughter home.”

Aokiji looked through the window, and he just realized snow had fallen tonight. “Yeah … sure? You can smoke at the corner, and there is small window there which you can open to release the smoke.”

“Thanks.” He walked to the corner, sat down on the chair of the last table after slightly opening the small window. He then took out two cigars from his pockets and started smoking.

It was a nice silence between the two of them. Aokiji stood near the cashier table, looking at him smoking the two cigars at once. The man never smoked one cigar, for he knew so far, and it was really interesting habit. His outstanding white hair was also quite long, Aokiji guessed, and was slicked back so it looked tidy and matched his daily working outfit. Aokiji remembered he wore a white long coat, which he hung on the coat rack when he came in, but he was still wearing a white jacket above his shirt. He could see how the man shivered due to the coldness.The temperature was very low outside.

“Want a drink of coffee?” Aokiji asked.

The man looked back at him. A bit confused, but he kept answering. “I thought the cafe has closed now.”

“My employees have left the cafe, I guess. But I can serve you some.” Aokiji walked behind the display counter, to the small pantry side which was used to prepare coffee and hot latte. “What do you like?”

“Black coffee, please. Without sugar.”

“Wait a moment.”

Aokiji started the coffee machine, and made the order with a wide smile on his face. Things were going very smoothly so far, and he was really glad to be able to talk with the man, even if it was only a few moments of chit chat. It only took about 5 minutes until he got two cups of black coffee. He put them on the tray, and brought them to the man’s spot.

“Black coffee, no sugar, as you ordered.” Aokiji said while putting the cup on the table. He accepted the cup, and continued smoking to wait the drink to cool down a bit. Aokiji then sat down in front of him, holding his own coffee cup.

“So you are the owner of this cafe?” The man rhetorically asked.

“Yeah. I owned the cafe a half and a year ago. My friend, who was the previous owner, sold the cafe to me.” Aokiji answered honestly. “I just retired from the cops at that time, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad to manage a small cafe like this. It would prevent me from boredom too.”

“I see.” He took one sip of his coffee. “My daughter said she does love this cafe. Various cakes and sweet stuff. And awesome drink made by the owner too.”

Aokiji tried very hard to hold his stoic face, although he could feel his face warming up. “She complimented our cafe too, when we chatted and she ate the cake. A very honest, cute little girl. You’re so lucky to have her by your side.”

There was some break before the man spoke again. “I’m Smoker, by the way. Feels wrong to chat with you without introducing myself properly.”

 _So his name is Smoker,_ Aokiji thought. _Really suit him_. “I’m Aokiji Kuzan. Call me anything you like.”

He smiled a bit. A very light smiler between his lips which still held those two cigars firmly. “I’m just a common worker at government office. Can’t be compared to you - who was once a police officer.”

Aokiji laughed a bit. “It was a boring job, really. That’s why I took early retirement.”

“I don’t think it is the same boring as document papers and meeting stuff?”

“Ah, I can’t stand with those things. Reviewing the cafe’s profit, is quite good for me.”

They both chuckled a little. The conversation continued, from the weather forecast for the winter season to their opinions about the current political situation - which was unbelievably similar. Nothing was really personal; Smoker looked quite comfortable with their chat, and Aokiji smiled inwardly to be able to chat with him. They got along really well, despite they just knew each other for a very short time.

The whole time they chatted, Aokiji wondered whether this was the thing he was looking for so long; this serene, warm situation, having chat with a nice person, drinking coffee and enjoy the peace between them. Aokiji could feel how awesome his life would be, if they could be together like this every day without getting bored.

They were almost done drinking the coffee, until a sudden soft whine was heard from the table nearest to the front door.

“Dad?” Tashigi, who was just awake, calling out her father while rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Smoker got up immediately and went to her daughter. “You’re awake.”

“I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

“It’s okay. It was my fault that I came so late to pick you up.” He literally hugged the girl and caressed her head fondly. Aokiji’s trench coat which was used to cover her body fell down halfway onto the chair. “Are you ready to go home now?”

The girl nodded, but said nothing. It seemed like she was still too sleepy because of the cold weather. Aokiji, who was closing the small window, could feel the freezing wind and made him wondered how they would go home in this weather. It was far too cold to walk outside, especially since it was still snowing.

“How will you get home?” Aokiji asked after locking the window.

It needed some time before Smoker answered. “We will walk to the nearest subway station.”

“In this temperature?”

“No choice. Our house is on the east side of the city. Calling the taxi will cost quite too much.”

Smoker was helping Tashigi to pack her backpack, and took their coat on the coat rack. The little girl put on her coat, and her dad helped to wrap the scarf on her neck. Aokiji thought hard when the man was putting his coat on; he didn’t want to let them leave the cafe in cold weather, walking down the street and being frozen. But was it the best choice to speak and ask if he could drive them home with his car? _Will they be scared away, or not?_ He decided to go to speak anyway. Being accepted or not, he could deal with it later.

“Is it okay if I drive you two home?”

Smoker looked at him with shocked expression, while Tashigi was no different.

“I mean, the cafe has closed and I will go home soon too. I can drive you home with my old car. It’s not that fancy, but at least you don’t have to walk along the cold street.” He continued talking nervously.

“It’s okay. We are used to walk to the station, no matter how cold the weather is.” Smoker rejected the idea. “Beside, we don’t want to bother you by driving us home.”

“No problem at all. I live alone and don’t have to arrive at home too early. I can take you home with my car, and your daughter doesn’t have to feel cold outside.” Aokiji persisted.

“Really, you don’t have to-”

“I’ll go outside now, drive my car from the parking lot to the front door. Please wait here and don’t go anywhere.” Aokiji cut his words short, took out the key car from his pocket, and go to the front door. He could hear Smoker just sighed and let him go. Tashigi looked in dazed with the whole conversation; she didn’t say anything but smiled.

 

**~~~ Walking ~~~**

 

It took an hour and 15 minutes to Smoker & Tashigi’s house, located at the east side of the city. Despite of her sleepy eyes, the little girl looked so excited when they were riding the car; she kept asking many things, including the buildings they passed by, the area they were in, and even the street names. Smoker didn’t talked much, but still answered her questions, while he kept saying sorry to Aokiji because they rarely rode a car or bus and her daughter became over excited. The curly dark haired man only smiled and said it was no problem for him.

When he finally arrive, the house where they lived was a small, modern-designed house. It was painted in brown color, with lighter brown shade for the window and door frame; a small garden in front of the house and small parking space beside the garden, but there was no vehicle on it. That was when Aokiji realized the reason why the two of them always took the subway route to go home. The lamp on the terrace was on - seemed like a solar-energy lamp -, and it was bright enough to illuminate the front door, so they didn’t need to walk inside the house in the dark. Overall, the house looked so cozy and relaxing. The neighborhood was rather quiet and the security system was good too, Smoker said, and that was why he chose to live in that area.

Once the car stopped moving and came into park, Tashigi seemed like she didn’t want to get out of the car. Smoker needed to persuade her with some delicious stuff for dinner he would prepare soon after they came in, until she stopped whining and agreed.

“Thank you very much for driving us home, Mister.” She spoke to Aokiji politely. _Her dad has taught her a lot,_ he thought.

“You’re welcome, little Tashigi. Glad you enjoyed the riding.” Aokiji responded while rubbing her head softly.

She then get out of the car, followed by Smoker afterwards. After the man closed the door, he said, “Sorry that you have to drive us home this far.”

“Ah. Not a big deal, really. Glad I can help.”

“Thanks a lot. It means so much for us.”

Aokiji smiled as the response. He still didn’t start the car, waiting for Smoker to get inside the house. But the white haired man didn’t move a single bit. It was like he still wanted to talk, but do not know where to start.

“Yeah?” Aokiji finally spoke, deciding to break the ice and hear what Smoker had to say.

“Would you … Would you like to come for dinner next time? Maybe over the weekend?”

Aokiji could see him nervously answer, “I mean, we’re really grateful for your help today. And we didn’t even pay for the drinks.”

He stopped, made Aokiji’s smile widened. He still remembered that he rejected when Smoker wanted to pay the bill. He said he gave the drinks for free, and made the white haired man shocked.

“For your information, I don’t eat meat too much. A lot of vegetables are acceptable in my age.”

Smoker smiled a little. “I’ll make sure to cook only healthy food then.”

“Well then … this weekend?”

“Yes, if you’re free.”

“I’ll come. Definitely.”

After that Smoker left him with smile on his face and came inside the house.

The snow fell again once more; The coldness everywhere, the street filled with white coating as the night became darker. And here he was, driving his car with warmth filled in his chest. He regretted nothing; he stepping ever closer on the right path, searching the happiness of life. He always believed he would find it someday. And yes, he had finally found it.

 

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> The second time I wrote English fanfic, oh God *even more shocking expression*
> 
> This special fic is dedicated for my special lovely recipient of KilGuin chatroom's Secret Santa Event. Not a very big event, but hell yeah. I did write the fic. Ariesdanger24 senpai, THIS FIC IS YOURS.
> 
> Again, it feels wrong not to mention everyone who has helped me a lot in making this fic to be much, much better. onepiece_fandom_ (onepiece_fanficts on Wattpad) and Lu Senpai (stardustgalaxy on Tumblr) have helped me A LOT to fix the grammatical error and stuff. Special thanks again for Elementalcrystals, who always leads me to the right way in writing the story (although I still think I don't revise my fic the best, I should be work harder next time)
> 
> The idea version of the fanfic cover was made by me, but the one who drew it digitally and very, very beautifully is my beloved Metsuta Gachiru, my cutie Instagram bestfriend, so a very special thanks for this amazing artists.
> 
> And it's not a late fic post. OMG, finally I can write & manage everything on time!!
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy this story, Senpai. And everyone who enjoys this super fluffy fanfics. And Merry Christmas for you all!!!
> 
> And last, would you mind to leave review?


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